This invention relates generally to athletic equipment and more particularly concerns a steer wrestling dummy for training beginning, amateur and professional rodeo cowboys.
Steer wrestling expertise includes, among other aspects, catching, slowing down and throwing a steer with the least amount of effort and in the quickest time possible.
In catching a steer, the cowboy must adjust his body position as he dismounts his horse in relation to the position of the steer's horns so that he will not miss the steer. While every steer wrestler hopes and trains for a normal catch, he must also train for unusual conditions. Some steers are easy and others tricky. The level of any given steer's head may be naturally low or high. The tendency of the steer may be to lower either the left or right horn. If the inside horn drops, the cowboy must further lower his body during his dismount. If the outside horn drops, the cowboy must adjust his dismount somewhat higher to bring his body over the top of the steer and insure that his right arm will go further down under the right horn.
Once the catching process is complete, the cowboy must slow down or stop the steer. In accomplishing this, during his dismount the cowboy's right arm must go under the steer's right horn while his left hand grabs the left horn as far to the left as possible to create better leverage for positioning the steer's head. When the cowboy's feet come in contact with the ground, he holds the steer's head close to his body, `crosses` the steer by pushing down on the left horn and lifting up on the right horn and `curls` the steer by pulling the steer's head around the cowboy to put the steer in an unbalanced position and enable the cowboy to slow the steer down.
When the cowboy feels he has slowed the steer sufficiently, he will attempt to throw the steer to the ground. To accomplish this, he shifts his hip into the steer's shoulder and pulls the steer's head and neck around the cowboy's body, pulling the steer's body further off balance. When the steer's body gets to approximately 100.degree. to 130.degree. in relation to its original path, the cowboy reaches over the left horn with his left arm, puts his arm under the steer's jaw pulls the steer's head up and straightens from a crouch to a stand to lift the steer's front feet off the ground. At approximately 150.degree. to 180.degree. the cowboy will thrust himself backwards and the steer will be rolled on its side and the throwing portion of the steer wrestling process is completed.
In perfecting these techniques, training generally involves live horses and steers so as to expose the cowboy to the wide variety of conditions he might encounter in the rodeo arena. However, training with live horses and steers has some major disadvantages. When the cowboy dismounts, the horse is free to roam. And, when the cowboy releases the thrown steer, the steer is also free to roam. As a result, a considerable amount of the cowboy's practice time is expended in round-up rather than wrestling. Also, live horses and steers are unpredictable, making it difficult for the cowboy to repeatedly practice any selected aspect of his technique in relation to selected steer sizes and tendencies. As a result, the cowboy may not be able to recreate specific conditions he wishes to train for. Furthermore, the unpredictability of the horse and steer movements increases the possibility of injury to the cowboy during the training session. The desirability of predictability is of course greater in proportion to the inexperience of the cowboy.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a steer wrestling dummy which simulates the movements of a steer in response to the movements of a cowboy during the steer wrestling process. Another object of this invention is to provide a steer wrestling dummy that is adjustable to simulate steers of various sizes. Yet another object of this invention is to provide a steer wrestling dummy which can be adjusted to simulate steers of varying strength. It is also an object of this invention to provide a steer wrestling dummy which responds in life-like manner to the application of proper steer wrestling techniques. In addition, it is an object of this invention to provide a steer wrestling dummy whose size and/or weight simulation characteristics can be easily and quickly adjusted to accommodate the size, strength and ability of the cowboy. Another object of this invention is to provide a steer wrestling dummy readily repeatedly reusable in a short span of time.